Aberration
by GayWarden11
Summary: Aydan and Elissa are the firstborn twins to the ruling Trevelyan family. As such, they had their futures planned out since birth. When neither of them matches that expectation, their family uses cruel tactics to force them into said plan. This is an exploration of the twins' experiences in Ostwick, as told by Aydan Trevelyan, up until the Conclave and the start of the Inquisition.


Aberration. Abnormal. Abomination. He heard it all. After all, what else could he be called? He was not only a mage, but also a firstborn to a noble family which produced multiple templars. The heir. The one who would inherit all of his family's possessions and who would rule their city-estate. That was his future, set in stone just as his own siblings' futures. Elissa, his twin, would be kept as the spare, should something unfortunate happen to him. His two other siblings would either be married off to some other noble house or, ironically, join the Chantry and become templars.

Of course, almost nothing turned out as it was planned. It all started when the youngest Trevelyan refused to go to the Chantry and ran away from Ostwick, shamed. The last news they had of their younger brother was that he joined a mercenary company. After that, Elissa shocked their parents when she started to refuse every suitor they found for her, effectively driving them away and making their parents furious.

Aydan shuddered. He still remembered what happened when they found the reason why she did that. Their parents still had the audacity to attack her when she stopped believing in the Maker after being locked in the Chantry, hearing people tell her she had to be cured of her so called affliction – preferring the company of women instead of men –, and promising said cure to them. He was certain that wasn't the only suffering dear mom and dad inflicted on his sister, but that was all he was told when she was _dragged_ to the Circle tower, to be examined by the templars, who would see if they could, he remembered hearing them say, find and destroy the root of the problem.

As if _she_ was the one who had a problem.

That left their remaining sister to be the Trevelyan example. And oh, how she followed it. Joined the Templar Order as soon as she could and became the supposed beacon of hope for their lineage, until she was sent to serve in the Kirkwall circle.

And, of course, there was the matter of his existence. The shameful burn in the family tree. The cherry on top of the family trouble cake. The _heir_ to the family, a _mage_. Some would say it was just as with some other family in Kirkwall whose firstborn was also a mage and which had their fortune drastically change after the child's birth. That supposedly proved how having a mage child was an omen of bad luck. Bullshit, in Aydan's opinion. However, no one would ever ask what a _mage_ thought about anything. They were, after all, only potential abominations, weren't they? Walking, talking, breathing disasters waiting to happen.

Aydan closed his eyes and shook his head, fast, as if to shake his thoughts and, hopefully, make them stop. Now wasn't the time to be contemplating his life, not when he still had to finish the book he was reading. Mia wanted it back the following day, and he still had at least twenty pages to read before he was done.

Sighing, he forced himself to ignore the thoughts and memories that were swirling in his mind – wasn't it the same thing as keeping the demons away? –, making his eyes focus on the words written on the book and letting them consume his thoughts, at least for the moment.

* * *

The memories of his family didn't bother him for days after that, until he received a small missive with the Trevelyan family crest emblazoned on it. That was weird. His parents and younger siblings _never_ wrote him, and when he and Elissa talked, it was never by any written means.

Aydan smiled, remembering his twin. That was the only part of his old life that he missed, and the only member of his family that truly cared for him, and not for his status or, more accurately, his pointed lack of status. Of the remaining five Trevelyans – he didn't count himself because he knew he only kept the surname because of tradition, otherwise he'd have seen himself stripped of that too. Not that it would be such a big loss for the mage, after all he _already_ was stripped of everything that was once his –, she was the only one who ever made attempts to interact with him.

Most of them were failed, but it was because of the templars. Of _course_ it had to be the templars. Still, it was nice to know there was someone out there who did such admittedly stupid things, such as trying to climb the Circle's walls bare handed or smuggling herself into the tower by locking herself in a crate and having a servant drop her together with the supplies that were to be taken by the templars.

Aydan had laughed long and hard at Elissa's antics, and really appreciated when one of her most elaborate schemes worked. Or even the less complicated, but still effective ones – such as the crate episode. Such laughter was only intensified by her own account of the deeds., which was often peppered with excessive hand motions.

It was good to have his only remaining family member still love him as he loved her. When one of his friends, Erik, questioned why he only considered her to be his family, Aydan answered, without pause, that he would never acknowledge the other people who shared blood with him as family just because of their blood.

The other mage looked at him strangely, a flash of jealously passing through his eyes, but didn't push the subject. It was a sensitive one, considering how many of them had no memories at all of anything resembling a family.

* * *

When the war broke, the Ostwick circle decided to stay neutral. Everyone knew that it wouldn't last, that they would have to pick a side soon. However, both the mages and the templars were appeased, for the moment, with the illusion of normalcy. Of course, it didn't last. The tensions were too high for it to be any other way.

That was when the Divine called for her Conclave, and the Ostwick Circle decided that Aydan would be a fitting representative, considering his noble origin and his family's ties to the Chantry. It was hard to contain a bitter laugh when they gave their reasons, but somehow he managed to do it. However, Aydan asked for one thing so that he could attend.

If they were going to pull the family card, then he wanted his only family together with him.

He wanted Elissa to attend.

The Trevelyan family had been planning to send some representatives anyway, so for the first time in his life, Aydan had his wish not only heard, but also respected.

They left the following morning.

* * *

When Aydan awoke, the first thing that he noticed, even with his eyes closed, was that his entire body _hurt_. The second thing was noticed when he, after a groan of pain, opened his eyes.

Why was he in a cottage?

Where was he, exactly?

What had happened?

His breath caught as he jogged his memories and found them partially missing, having, instead, flashes of what had gone on in the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

He and Elissa turning a wrong corner and finding themselves in a place they weren't sure they were allowed to be. Hearing strange noises coming from a door. Elissa motioning for him to stay behind her as she opened said door. A deep, male, voice. A woman's voice. The world exploding in a mixture of green and pain.

Elissa. Where was her? If she were hurt, or worse – no, Aydan wouldn't dare think it. It couldn't be. She was strong, so if he was alive, she had to be as well. However, Elissa was closer to the explosion, so the logical part of the mage's brain was telling him that there was no way short of a miracle that would have made her survive the blast. So, with a sinking heart, Aydan came to the realization that his sister was dead. He refused to accept it, however, until he had proof, and so getting out of the bed he was lying on became the most important mission of his life, at that moment.

When he started to move to accomplish said mission, his arms failed and he heard more than felt the impact of a body on a soft surface before the world went back to black.

* * *

The next time Aydan awoke, an Inquisition had been called and its leader was known as the Herald of Andraste, if the chanting outside was anything to go by. He felt stronger now, so leaving the bed would be a reasonable goal now.

Turns out that whatever the healer had been doing to him was good, because he not only managed to get out of bed without passing out, but also actively leave the cottage. He walked slower than usual, but finally arrived at the biggest building in the village he was. Which, of course, _had_ to be a Chantry. A small, mirthless, chuckle left his lips. That was probably where this Herald of Andraste would be. He heard the villagers saying that woman could work miracles.

He would believe it if she could bring his sister back.

* * *

Turns out that the Herald of Andraste was Elissa.

Thank the Maker.

Truly, He works in mysterious ways, but Aydan couldn't bring himself to care. Elissa hated the title, but still wanted to help in whatever way she could, a feeling he shared.

However, Aydan's wounds still bothered him, so Elissa sent him back to bed and promised she would ask the healer to meet him there soon.

The following days were chaotic, as everyone in Haven was still reeling from the Conclave explosion, and now were adjusting to having an inquisition not only called, but also based there. In these days, Aydan finally healed and was ready to start working with the newly formed organization. The very first thing that Elissa decided – insisted – he had to do was meeting what she called the Inquisition's higher ups, as the supposed Herald claimed she had already talked about him to them and it was agreed that her brother would be a welcome addition to their inner circle. Aydan found the way she called them strange at first, since _she_ was the one everyone was bowing to, but decided to not comment on it.

Aydan could feel Elissa's body shivering – which was unnoticeable by anyone else – as she took her twin through the Chantry's huge wooden doors. _So that's where she spends most of her time in Haven now? No wonder she loves getting out of here for those missions_ , the mage mused, as a stab of sympathy cut through him while the images of what Elissa told him happened to her in Ostwick's Chantry returned to his mind. Aydan carefully wrapped one arm around his sister, which earned him a small smile of gratitude. They walked like that to the door at the end of the hall, which she mumbled was now a war room.

There were three people inside it, two women and a man. They all turned to the door when it opened, giving Aydan the first view of the Inquisition's heads, both literally and metaphorically. The first one to react was one of the women, the dark skinned one who was dressed in gold and blue, whose name was, from what he remembered of Elissa's briefing, Josephine. She smiled at him and welcomed the mage to the Inquisition.

Aydan gaped, even if only for a moment. A beautiful woman, looking at him as a human being? Even if only done professionally, that was more than what most people on Thedas would have done. Realizing he had to offer a reply, Aydan broke himself from his thoughts and thanked her, proceeding to introduce himself properly and noting that the other, red haired, woman – whose name he forgot, but thought it was something that started with an L – was glaring at him. He quickly averted his gaze to the third person, the man who, in Aydan's opinion, must spend a good portion of his earnings in hair maintenance products. Ah, yes. His name was Cullen.

 _Shit. The Templar Elissa told me about._

Aydan glanced warily at the curly haired man. He had to keep away from that one, as was the protocol for handling Templars, which meant, truly, staying alive, inside or outside of the Circle.

The rest of the meeting didn't have any other incident, with them discussing Elissa going to Val Royeaux to appeal to the Chantry there. Aydan didn't particularly like the idea, but no one could think of any other plan, so they would have to stick to the only one they had. As the meeting ended, he stole what he thought was a last furtive glance at Josephine, smiling slightly to himself as they all prepared to leave the room. _Perhaps good things are in store in the immediate future_ , he wondered.

As he left the war room, he passed Leliana – see, now he remembered her name–, who elbowed him in the ribs and shot him another glare.

 _Well, maybe the not the so immediate future._

Still, Aydan couldn't stop the small smile that stayed on his face for the rest of the day. Even with the occasional elbowing, this had been a very good day, in his book.


End file.
